Gotta get moving if the boat's gonna launch! Nate and I tackled compounding/polishing the topsides of the hull today. We did a good job, and the gelcoat looks beautiful. At least one side of the boat does! That's how much we got done in 4 hours. Need more fresh volunteers to work on the rest of the hull. Your participation has benefits - you won't need to go to the gym later for your upper body workout!
Thanks for your help, Nate! I really appreciate it.
I'm planning to attend this seminar at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club in Holland this Wednesday, April 12. If anyone is interested in coming along, let me know. Info and preregistration below...
SAIL CONTROL FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE - April 12, 2017, 6:30 PM, Quantum Sails Seminar Series at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club, 2157 S. Shore
Dr., Macatawa, MI. Farley Fontenot is known for both his racing and cruising expertise. Join him and the Quantum team at Macatawa Bay
Yacht Club for a detailed presentation on sail control that will benefit you no matter your favorite type of sailing. No cost, preregistration
required, seats are limited: http://tinyurl.com/17QuantumMBYC.
It took some doing, but the Martec prop is finally off the prop shaft and the new Flexofold prop is on. Flexofold is a Danish company that makes great marine propellers with just about the lowest drag characteristics under sail, and among the best in motoring performance in forward and reverse. The blades are geared together, so one blade cannot drop down unexpectedly and create a lot of drag. This one is the correct size for the engine and transmission and won't overdrive and cavitate like the other one tended to do. And this propeller is a work of art. It's beautiful!
This photo appeared in a recent email ad from North Sails, who builds sails for the lovely, historic J-Class megayachts. Seems to me that the draft in the mainsail may be a little too far aft. Could it be because the boat is heeled a tad too much on account of not enough crew - only 29 - on the high side rail hiking?! ;)
Karen and I attended the USSailing Safety at Sea one-day training course yesterday at Columbia Yacht Club (held in the rail deck, where it was freezing!). Generally very good content and good presentations. A few takeaways of many...
- We sat next to a female minister from Chicago who, it turns out, purchased, refurbished, and is racing "Flagrante Delicto," the J/29 that Karen helped race in South Haven years ago. Christened "Wahoo" now. Small world syndrome!
- A glamorous sailing-themed Chivas Regal ad set the stage about crew overboard.
- Interesting video testing the GaleForce drogue that is capable of steering a sailboat (very well, actually) if the rudder is disabled or lost. I placed an order for a similar, highly-rated, but much less expensive drogue to have on board.
- Great presentation by the commander of the U.S. Coast Guard station at Calumet Harbor. We should feel fortunate that the coast guard is committed to our safety when we get in trouble anywhere in U.S. waters. Check out the iPhone/Android app United States Coast Guard for supporting information, to file a float plan, request services, etc.
- Extremely useful meteorology information introduced by Matt Gallagher, offering a lot of resources at www.wxchicago.com.
- More extremely useful information presented about medical emergencies at sea. One tip to maintain privacy of medical information but have it available when needed - write down your individual pertinent medical information like allergies, conditions, prescriptions and place it in a sealed envelope to be stored on board in one location and returned at the end of the (medically uneventful) voyage. We should do this.
- Interesting demos of PFDs, tethers, DSC distress calls, flares, whistles, spot lights, liferaft.
Karen, Brad German, and I attended the North U. seminar on racing rules & tactics at DePaul University on Saturday, March 4. Dave Dellenbaugh was the presenter and did an excellent job. Dave's experience includes tactician aboard America's Cup campaigns, president of US Sailing rules committee, and coach for the U.S. sailing team at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The new 2017-2020 rules were described, and lots of practical situations where and how the rules apply were shown on whiteboard and in video. This brought the rules to life in a way that is relevant to common sailing situations. Great stuff!
Here is the March issue of the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation e-Newsmagazine.
There is a good article about St. Joseph River Yacht Club racing by Jim Schrager, starting on page 10. He outlines how and why the racing program has grown in the past few years. Nice job and nice photos!
Also, read a couple of interesting articles about performance-based sailboat rating systems, starting on page 23. Rating systems are a necessary evil that are applied to try to assure fairness in racing in mixed fleets of boats.
Look out - here comes trouble. Mercedes is registered in the Chicago Yacht Club 109th Race to Mackinac! Should be fun!
New rope clutches are on deck! Because of Nate's help, we got 6 Spinlock XTS clutches, 2 Spinlock XXX jammers, and 3 Harken 150 cam cleats all fit and bedded. It will be a big improvement to how the running rigging is organized and led aft to the cockpit. Thanks, Nate!
When shopping for sailing gear, there is quite a bit of variance in products and prices among the primary sources, and it pays to comparison shop. The only retail store that is close to St. Joseph is Wolf's Marine in Benton Harbor. The store is a real eclectic experience, and if they have what you need, the prices are good. Torresen Marine still operates a small retail store in Muskegon, but TOAD Marine Supply (in the Detroit area) bought the rights to their online business. They have great inventory of marine engine parts and supplies. West Marine used to have a store in Benton Harbor (where the Anchor's Way office is), but now, the closest West Marine outlets are in Michigan City and Holland. Be careful - their prices can be high, except maybe for their own name-branded products, rebranded from various manufacturers.
Among the competing online sources, Defender Marine almost always has the best prices, and amazingly efficient order processing and shipping. Annapolis Performance Sailing has great selection. Mauri Pro has great selection too, but it's hard to find your way around the website, and prices tend to be high unless you hit a sale. They bought out Layline - which had been probably the best site for line and rigging. Other online marine stores include Performance Yacht Systems, P2 Marine, and West Marine.
Links to the online stores of all these outfitters are at the right under "Marine Outfitters".
Gotta get moving if the boat's gonna launch! Nate and I tackled compounding/polishing the topsides of the hull today. We did a good job, and the gelcoat looks beautiful. At least one side of the boat does! That's how much we got done in 4 hours. Need more fresh volunteers to work on the rest of the hull. Your participation has benefits - you won't need to go to the gym later for your upper body workout! 
Karen, Brad German, and I attended the North U. seminar on racing rules & tactics at DePaul University on Saturday, March 4. Dave Dellenbaugh was the presenter and did an excellent job. Dave's experience includes tactician aboard America's Cup campaigns, president of US Sailing rules committee, and coach for the U.S. sailing team at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The new 2017-2020 rules were described, and lots of practical situations where and how the rules apply were shown on whiteboard and in video. This brought the rules to life in a way that is relevant to common sailing situations. Great stuff! 
